Elephantiasis is just a type of lymphedema. It is caused when adult tissue roundworms (Wucheria sp.) obstruct your lymphatics, thus leading to the accumulation of fluid. Travelers to areas where elephantiasis is endemic need not be worried as only chronic infection to this parasite leads to elephantiasis. Another type of lymphedema occurs after a mastectomy (the surgery a woman receives to remove cancerous breast tissue). Because the surgeons often remove the draining lymphatics, the woman suffers from lymphedema. However, in this case, it isn't roundworms obstruction the lymphatics but simply the removal of the lymphatics.
